Arnold and Helga: A Love Story
by lauren.dorseyemery
Summary: This is my first fanfic and I'm just going to let it speak for itself. Enjoy! I look forward to comments. :


**_Part 1_**

Arnold walks out of the movie theater with his girlfriend, Lila, his best friend Gerald and his girlfriend, Phoebe. Arnold and his friends were excited because it was the last week of summer before they started off the school year as juniors. Arnold should have been happy. He was the captain of his baseball team, his best friend was one of the coolest guys in school and he was dating the hottest and sweetest redhead in school. After years of chasing Lila, she finally came around. But Arnold still felt that something was missing.

"You seemed kind of quiet on the cab ride to my house", Lila says to him.

"Oh, it's nothing, just tired I guess." He lied.

He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and rode home. That night he had a dream about the girl of his dreams. She was beautiful, nice, smart, funny, strong, and…blonde? He quickly woke up from his dream in a cold sweat. It was about 6:00 AM. Everyone in the boarding house was still sleep.

"I can't get to sleep", he thought. "I'm going for a walk."

He threw on his blue sweatpants and his red hoodie. He takes a long walk until he comes up to a house. Still half asleep, it took him awhile to realize he was at Helga Pataki's house. He shuddered just hearing her name. His whole life she had done nothing but torture him, make fun of him and call him names. Of course there were some good times they had, too…But he wasn't thinking about any of that right now. Big Bob was out in the driveway loading a…moving truck? Was Helga moving? Miriam and Helga came out with suitcases. Helga still had that always mad look on her face. She saw Arnold standing there looking.

"What are you staring at Football Head, I'm moving here," Helga said.

"Moving? When were you gonna tell anyone?"

"It was a last minute transfer for my dad's job. Now get outta the way, I'm leaving this crappy little town. You should see where we're gonna live now. We're moving to New York."

"Come on, Helga, we gotta leave early so I can start my new better job." Big Bob yelled.

"I'm coming, Dad." Helga yelled back. Then she did something surprising. She reached out and gave Arnold a hug. Weird. That one hug Helga gave Arnold gave him more joy than all the times he kissed Lila put together. Then, Helga smacked him on the head.

"See ya Footballhead." Arnold couldn't help but smile. He felt a weird combination of relief and sadness as he watched Helga and her family drive away. He stood there thinking for a moment. As he started to walk back home, he stepped on something. It was the pink notebook Helga was always writing in. She was long gone now. He wondered what she was always writing about in that book.

"Probably world domination or something", he thought with a laugh.

He opened it and there were all these love poems and diary entries. He had no idea Helga was so…girly and emotional. The entries on the first few pages didn't have any names as to who she was writing about. The entry on the fourth page did mention someone, however. The entry said:

_Oh Arnold, how I long to be near you. I've been trying for years to get up the courage to talk to you, but it always seems too hard. You're so amazing and sweet. You'd never go for a girl like me. I'd rather be your frenemy forever than to tell you how I feel and risk being nothing in your life at all. If we're frenemies, then I at least know where we stand._

Arnold closed the book. He raced home and called Gerald.

"You're never gonna believe this…"

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

**_Part 2 _**

"Arnold, is that you?" Gerald sleepily answers the phone.

"Gerald, Helga Pataki's moving away!" Arnold exclaimed.

"Is that good news or bad news?"

"A little of both, I think." Arnold was really confused about what he'd just read and he needed his best friend now more than ever.

"Can you meet me at Gerald's Field? I know it's early but you have to see this." Arnold was eager to share this.

"Yeah, I'll be there in 10 minutes." Gerald replied.

Arnold grabbed the notebook and started working towards the field. He saw Gerald walking towards him.

"Thanks so much for meeting me at the last minute," Arnold is eternally grateful for a friend like Gerald.

"So what's this big thing you had to show me at 8 in the morning?" Gerald was eager to know, now.

"I found this notebook as Helga was leaving. She was gone by the time I noticed she accidentally left this behind."

Gerald snatched the notebook and started reading. One entry said:

_Oh Arnold, I know I'm not as pretty or sweet as Lila. I can never compete with that. If only I could get her out of the picture so you could finally see I'm the one for you. Every time I try to sabotage her, she still ends up looking better than me. I've tried putting gum in her hair and that only made you feel sorry for her. I've tried pushing her in the pool at her pool party and you dive in after her. It seems like no matter how I try to humiliate her or break you guys up I drive her into your arms. Maybe I should just give up and throw myself in a useless relationship to take my mind off of you. Stinky's single. _

_"_Oh my God, Helga's totally in love with you! That explains why all these years she was jealous of Lila. But why didn't she just tell you how she felt. She had a chance to say something way before Lila finally went out with you," Gerald pointed out.

Arnold shook his head. "I guess she was just insecure. You've met her sister, Olga. She's always felt unappreciated. She didn't want to risk a rejection."

"So, how do you feel about her?" Gerald asked the obvious question.

Arnold was taken aback. He rolled his eyes. "I'm dating Lila."

Gerald cracked a smile. "I didn't ask you that."

Arnold stood up. He flashed back to all the good and bad times he'd shared with Helga. Everything from her saving him from dating the wrong girl when they spent their summer vacation together to the time she glued feathers to his back in Mr. Simmons class.

Arnold sighed. "I guess I'm conflicted. She's made me miserable before but she's shown me her nice side. And now we know why she was ever mean to me. So, with Helga, I guess things would be complicated. With Lila, we're together and we love each other and it's easy, very straightforward."

"But what's easy isn't always what's best." Gerald reminded him.

"If I'm having feelings for another girl, I need to at least tell my girlfriend."

Gerald smiled. "Good luck, man."

Arnold headed towards Lila's house.

She was so excited to see him. She was still in her pajamas, hair a mess, but she still looked incredible and very sweet and innocent. This was going to be harder than he thought it was.

"Sweetie, what are doing doing here so early? I wasn't expecting you until our date later tonight."

"I had something important that I had to show you." Arnold reached for the notebook.

Well, here goes nothing, he thought to himself.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

_**Part 3**_

Arnold reached for Helga's pink notebook once again. His heart was racing.

"Arnold, honey, is something wrong?" Lila asked ever so sweetly. She wasn't making this any easier.

"Hey, is your dad home?" Arnold heard himself blurt out.

"No, he actually is out of town on business-" Lila started to say. Before she knew it, Arnold was kissing her passionately. She eventually pulled away.

"Arnold, what's gotten into you all of a sudden? And what was so important that you rushed over her so early in the morning for?"

"Let's go upstairs," Arnold said suddenly. He picked her up and carried her to her room. He laid her on the bed and began kissing her all over. His hand slowly went lower and lower.

Lila pulled back slightly. "Are you sure you want to do this today? Is that why you came over here?"

Arnold thought for a minute. "Yes, I'm ready to take this next step with you."

Lila leaned back and closed her eyes. Arnold closed his eyes and made a move.

**2 HOURS LATER… **

Lila and Arnold had taken a nap after they had gotten done making love. Lila woke up with a smile on her face.

_Losing our virginity to each other was so beautiful and perfect just like I thought it'd be. I always knew that Arnold was the one for me but now I really know for sure. We're closer than ever now._

She looked over at Arnold half dressed sleeping peacefully. She gave him a kiss on the cheek.

_Sleep tight, my prince. _

Still in her post-sex daze she got dressed and stumbled downstairs to make breakfast for herself and Arnold. She was making bacon and eggs. Lila happened to glance over at that pink notebook Arnold had brought with him. She turned off the stove and walked over the floor to pick it up.

_Is this what he wanted to show me? _She wondered. She opened the notebook. She read one of the pages.

_I can't stand that skinny redheaded bitch, Lila. She thinks she's so beautiful and so perfect, but I'll bet she's really more flawed than she comes across. Nobody acts that perfect unless they have a secret. What do we really know about Lila anyway, other than the fact that she grew up on a farm before she moved here in fourth grade? And yeah, she goes out with Arnold now but that was years after she had rejected him and said he wasn't that "oh so special something she was looking for." And now he is? I've always thought she was a picky stuck up bitch. She'd probably leave Arnold heartbroken in the end. She doesn't know what she wants._

Lila was near tears when she read that. _Who could have written this? Why was Arnold trying to show me this? _She went back to the cover of the book. _Property of Helga G. Pataki_

Lila had about a million questions: Why had Arnold wanted to show her this? Where did he find it? Why had Helga felt this way about her? Lila had never done anything to hurt anyone before. Lila started to feel a pain in her stomach and maybe she knew the one person that could give her the answers she was looking for. She had to get to the bottom of this.

"ARNOLD!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

"ARNOLD!" Lila screamed again at the top of her lungs. She had no idea that her soft, sweet voice could get that loud.

Arnold jerked out of his sleep. Lila sounded upset about something. He had to hurry up and get downstairs. He found his pants and sweatshirt, put them on and raced down the stairs. He had to be cool about this.

"Lila, what's wrong?" He asked, even though he had a pretty good idea.

"What the hell is this?" Lila demanded. She threw the little pink notebook on the table. Wow, Lila had never cussed before. Of course, today was a day of many firsts.

"Uhm, Lila that's what I came over here to talk to you about." He led her over to the couch and they both sat down. She looked annoyed.

"Lila, Helga moved away to New York," Arnold began. "I was taking a walk yesterday and I happened to pass by her house. Her dad got transferred at the last minute and she didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to anyone, not even Phoebe. I wouldn't have even known if I hadn't happened to be just passing by."

"Get to the point, Arnold. Explain this notebook." Lila had never been so impatient before.

Arnold took a deep breath and ran a hand through his bright blonde hair. "Uhm, anyway Helga was keeping this journal for years and she left it behind be mistake. I tried to return it to her, but it was too late. She was already gone. Basically, there are a lot of things in that journal about her life, about her family. And she's in love. With me. She has been for years but she was too scared to say anything about it."

"And she hates me," Lila concluded.

Arnold patted her on the knee and gave her a half smile. "Only because you and her are exact opposites and you're with me instead of her." Arnold stood up and walked over to the living room window. He stared off into space. "That must really hurt to see the one person you're so in love with with someone you can't stand when you've been there all along…" his voice trailed off. He lowered his head and closed his eyes.

"You can't possibly feel sorry for this girl, Arnold. She's been mean _to the both _of us on numerous occasions." Lila rolled her bright green eyes.

"But now we know why!" Arnold pointed out. "It all makes sense now. Why she would pick on me one minute then she'd be concerned about me getting hurt by you or another girl the next minute."

Lila felt tears in her eyes again. "I haven't hurt you in years and that was way before we went out while I was still sorting out me feelings for you."

Arnold walked over to Lila. Her head was hanging low. Arnold put his hands on her shoulders. "Lila I was just using that as an example. I know you would never intentionally hurt me."

Lila looked up and cracked a smile. "Well, could we eat breakfast now? I made it and I'm almost certain it's cold by now."

Arnold chuckled. "I'll heat it up."

As they silently ate their bacon and eggs, Lila had to ask a question she knew she might regret asking later. "So, the notebook, why was it so important that we know how Helga feels about you? Especially since she's gone now." She forced a laugh. "Unless of course, you feel the same way about her…"

Arnold stopped chewing for a minute. He looked Lila dead in the eye but said nothing.

**TO BE CONTINUED… **

**_Part 4 _**

Arnold continued to stare blankly back at Lila. He swallowed his food hard. Lila had her arms crossed and she was pouting now.

"I asked you a question," she said coldly. "Do you or do you not have feelings for Helga Pataki?"

Arnold paused and thought carefully about his words. He knew one thing that was true. He walked over to Lila and held her hand. "I'm in love with you, Lila."

She snatched her hand back. "I didn't ask you that! Is it or is it not possible that you are in love with Helga Pataki?"

Arnold told her another truth. He shook his head. "I honestly don't know. I mean, I could be. That's another reason why I came over here this morning. Not only to show you the notebook, but to let you know that I think I have feelings for Helga, as well as you."

Lila was speechless. She had no idea what to say to what she had just heard. The one guy that she had been so in love with, the guy that she has just lost her virginity to was in love with someone else. Lila stared down at her feet.

"If you knew you had feelings for Helga and weren't sure who you wanted to be with, why'd you make love to me?" Lila said as quietly and sweetly as she could.

Arnold got the gist of what she said, but he had to ask again. "What'd you say?"

Lila took a deep breath and made direct eye contact with Arnold. "If you had feelings for someone else, then why did you fuck me? Is that loud enough for you?!" Lila was really shaken up. Her petite frame was trembling. She had never felt so…rejected before. Usually all the guys fall all over themselves just to be with her. Now, the love of her life was possibly in love with…Helga Pataki, of all people!

"Lila, I started to tell you the truth when I got here, but I got scared. The lovemaking thing happened because even if I might have some kind of feelings for Helga, I still knew that I loved you more than anything." Arnold was being honest, but it didn't help make Lila feel any better.

The tears were obvious in Lila's voice. "I don't even know why you'd like Helga Pataki anyway. She's an evil bitch. Anytime that she claimed she was doing something good for you, she probably had some ulterior motive." Lila couldn't help but smile at the observation.

Arnold knew there was some truth to what Lila had just said, but he thought back to one of Helga's journal entries. _People like Lila are always happy and perfect when things go their way. But I bet the moment something goes wrong in Little Miss Perfect's life she wouldn't know how to handle it. Arnold needs a strong, emotionally stable girl. Not just a girl that's had a charmed life for the most part and can't handle a real crisis. Maybe that's why she and Rhonda are friends. Lila's just spoiled. _

Arnold had never seen Lila act like this before. In some ways he thought about what Helga had said about her in her journal. But, at the same time, this was a normal reaction for any girl that had a boyfriend that just confessed he liked someone else. Either way, now that the journal and his confession were on the table, he had a choice to make. He couldn't string both girls along obviously. He could either stay with Lila and continue being the school's "perfect couple" or he could take a risk and go after Helga to New York.

Lila's voice broke his train of thought. "What are you thinking about?"

Arnold shook his head. He sighed. "I'm about to make one of the most important decisions in my life. I've decided I want to be with…"

Lila rushed up to him and kissed him before he could get out whose name he was going to say. "Maybe that will influence your decision." She said seductively.

Arnold gave a little smile. "It actually did. I have decided that I want to be with…"

**TO BE CONTINUED… **

_**Part 5**_

"The person I'm choosing to be with is you, Lila," Arnold said finally. Lila breathed a sigh of relief then smiled the biggest smile she possible could. She hugged Arnold.

"Oh, honey, that's such a relief. For a brief moment I thought you might actually choose that uni-browed weirdo." Lila laughed a somewhat arrogant laugh.

Arnold frowned. He had never really known Lila to be catty before this whole Helga thing. No one had. Maybe her true colors were coming out if she thinks she has a competition for Arnold's affections?

"Uhm, Helga shaved her unibrow years ago. I'd even say she arches them now." Arnold pointed out.

Lila's smile quickly faded. "How would you know what her eyebrows looked like, anyway?" Lila demanded, her arms now folded.

Arnold rolled his eyes. Arnold pictured Helga in his mind. Tall, pretty, blonde, a tomboy that could be girly and sensitive at times. "Anyone that pays attention to someone other than themselves for two seconds would have noticed her eyebrows."

"What are you trying to say?" Lila asked.

Arnold had to clean up what he'd just said. "I-I'm just saying that Helga's not in your main circle like Rhonda or Nadine so you probably wouldn't have paid attention to her like you do yourself or your friends."

Lila's smile returned. "You're so right about that, honey. Me, Rhonda and Nadine even keep track of when we all get our eyebrows, hair, etc. done. Rhonda got her eyebrows and hair done last Tuesday, Nadine got hers done on Thursday—"

"Fascinating," Arnold had to interrupt. This conversation could go on forever. Arnold couldn't help but wonder if he'd have these kind of meaningless conversations with Helga. Sure, she wasn't the girliest or the classiest girl around, but at least they had the same interests. They both liked outdoors and camping. They both enjoyed sports, such as baseball and football. Lila hated being outside and getting all dirty. The only sports Lila liked were dance and cheerleading. Lila broke his train of thoughts.

"I'm gonna go take a shower, baby." She said, kissing him on the cheek.

"Okay", he said and plopped down on the couch. Suddenly he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He looked at the caller ID. _Helga. _What could she possibly want? She either wanted to talk about the score of some ball game or she had finally realized her journal was missing. Arnold really hoped it was the first one. The phone stopped ringing. He glanced upstairs towards the bathroom. _She'll be awhile in there_, he thought.

He stepped outside and called Helga's number. "Arnold?" Helga said almost too excitedly.

Arnold was nervous for whatever reason. "Uhm, you just called me a minute ago?"

Helga took a brief pause. "Oh, yeah, uhm, I just got here at my new house and I'm missing a small pink notebook. I was just wondering, have you seen it?"

**TO BE CONTINUED… **

_**Part 5**_

Arnold took a brief pause.

"Arnold have you seen my notebook or not?" Helga repeated.

"Yes, I actually have it here with me. I'm at Lila's house." Arnold said finally. He waited eagerly for Helga's response. His heart was racing.

"Oh, okay." Helga said, being surprisingly calm. "Did you, uhm, happen to read any of it?"

Arnold took a deep breath. "Would it be a problem if I did?" _I could play this game all day, _he thought to himself.

Helga sighed. "Well, that depends: on what you thought about what I wrote, uhm, if you read it, that is."

Arnold scratched the back of his head. "Well, _if _I read your notebook, hypothetically speaking, that is, I'd have to say that I was definitely surprised by what I found out about you."

Helga's tone was slightly more serious now. "What exactly did you find about me?"

Arnold rolled his eyes. This dance back and forth was getting old. "Oh, my God, Helga, do I spell it for you? You know what you wrote! You're in love with me and you hate my girlfriend." There, Arnold had said it. Now, it was out on the table. Helga didn't say anything for a while.

"Only one question remains." Arnold already knew what it was. "Are you in love with me, too?" Helga had to ask.

Arnold didn't know how to respond to that. "What if I were?"

"If you are, you can break up with your girlfriend and we can be together! I'll move back to Oregon for you, Arnold. I don't care what my parents or Olga has to say about that."

_She would really do that for me? _He thought to himself. He fantasized briefly about what life would be like if he were Helga Pataki's boyfriend instead of her rival. But, then, he quickly snapped out of it. "You know I'm in love with Lila and that we're dating. I tried for years to get her and I finally did. I'm not gonna risk it, now. I already risked it when she saw the journal."

"She read my journal, too? Is nothing private anymore? You couldn't have just called or texted me right away and say that you found it?" Helga seemed angry now.

Arnold started to get defensive. "Well, to be fair, I didn't know it was your notebook at first. I saw it on the ground after you pulled away and I was halfway through a few pages before I knew what it was. Honest." Arnold was telling the truth. He thought it could have been someone's school notebook or something. Who knew girls like Helga Pataki kept journals?

Helga's tone softened a bit. "Okay, I can believe that, but why did you show Lila?"

Arnold had to choose his words carefully. "I had to tell her that I might have feelings for you."

Helga's voice was brighter. "So, you might be in love with me?"

_Uh-oh, _Arnold thought. _This is a tricky subject. _"Well, I thought I might have been at first and I was really flattered by what you said about me, but Lila's whom I want to be with. I mean, now that I know your true feelings, maybe we can get along better? Like, not just sometimes, but maybe all the time?"

Helga still wasn't buying this. "Well, let me ask you this question. It might take you awhile to answer this and that's okay. But, uhm, what if Lila was never in the picture? Like, what if you never met her at all and you found my journal? Would I have a chance then?"

Before Arnold could even answer, he heard a sweet country female's voice behind him. "Sweetie, who are you talking to?" Lila asked.

"Helga. I'm talking to Helga." Arnold admitted. Lila snatched the phone from Arnold's hand.

"Listen, you're an ugly, fat uni-browed having dyke bitch. If you ever call my man or build up any of your little fantasies where I'm out of the picture and Arnold for whatever reason could like something as repulsive as you, I'll drive up to New York myself and hunt you down and kill you. I don't even care if your family sees it. Not that they'd care much about you, anyway. Everyone knows Olga's the favorite and it's even more obvious in your journal what a reject you are." Lila hung up the phone and threw it into Arnold's lap. "There. Now we never have to deal with her again." Arnold just sat there with his mouth wide open, in shock. He didn't whether or not he was scared of Lila or turned on by her more now than ever. The phone suddenly rang again. Lila glared at the phone. It was Helga again.

"Arnold, put me on speaker phone." He turned the speaker on. Helga laughed. "Lila, I've already said everything I had to say about you in my journal which I'm sure your uppity little ass read all of anyway. The fact that you felt the need to go off on me like that just proves that you were really offended by what I thought about you because it was true _and _that you think you have some kind of competition for Arnold. See, I know what kind of girl you really are. You act like you have it all and you have it together, but you work so hard to make it seem that way. Am I in the ballpark, yet?"

Lila started crying, but then she blurted out "he chose me over you! He found out your feelings for him and he's still with me." Then, she had to add, "and, let's just say we know each other quite _intimately _now, if you know what I mean." Lila cracked a smile. "No one will _ever _be able to take that connection away from us."

Arnold cringed when she mentioned that. Sure, he loved her and their first time was great, but did she really have to tell Helga about it?

Helga sounded surprised. "Wait a minute, you guys had sex? What happened to little miss perfect waiting until marriage? I guess that's another thing she's a hypocrite about. Just like how she claims to be faithful 100%. But I'm sure you read about that part in my journal."

Now, it was Arnold's turn to be confused. "What are you talking about?"

"You didn't read that entry in my journal about me seeing Lila at the movies with Arnie? And how that day I tried to warn you, but you didn't want to listen?"

Arnold thought for a moment. "I remember that day!" He stared at Lila, whom was now chewing on her hair and staring down at the ground. "You told me you had a cold that day when _I _invited you to the movies."

"Look, Arnie was in town just for the weekend and he wanted to take me to the movies. He gave me a kiss on the cheek but I didn't kiss him back. It wasn't even a date. Just two old friends getting together." Lila confessed.

"Then why the fuck did you lie about it?" Arnold demanded.

"He said not to tell you! He said you two were arguing or something. You've never been each other's favorite relatives."

"Well, I believe you, but as my girlfriend, your loyalty should be to me, not my cousin. You didn't actually cheat, but lying is still pretty bad." Arnold shook his head.

Helga was still on speaker phone hearing all this. "So, Arnold, now that me and your girlfriend have both talked to you about this some more and we've confronted each other, how do you feel about me and how do you feel about her, now?"

"Helga, I'll call you back. Lila, I'll see you tonight on our date. I have to go home and think. I have a lot on my mind and you ladies have given me _a lot _to think about."

**TO BE CONTINUED… **

_**Part 6**_

Arnold got home and went up to his room. He sat there for a minute with his face in his hands. Then, he went to the bathroom to take a shower. He was just stepping out when he heard his grandpa call him.

"There's someone here to see you, Shortman." Arnold smiled. He was about 5'9 and his grandpa still called him Shortman. Who could be at the door? He glanced at his cell phone clock. The day was going by fast. It was after 3:00 PM. _Probably Gerald, _he thought. He and Phoebe were going on another double date with Arnold and Lila tonight. Arnold put on his torn jeans and blue t-shirt his grandma got him for his last birthday. He raced downstairs. He stopped dead in his tracks and his mouth dropped. Helga Pataki was standing at his front door. She was surprisingly prettier even though he just saw her this morning.

Arnold was at a loss for words. He walked closer to her. "How'd you get back here from New York so fast? I just saw you and your family drive off at 6 this morning."

Helga motioned to her suitcase. "New York is only a four hour drive from Oregon and I flew back. Olga paid for my plane ticket. I told her that you and _Lila _read my journal and I had to get back here and fix this." Helga said Lila's name as if it left a bad taste in her mouth.

Arnold was dodging obvious conversation starters so he reached for something simple. "Well, gee, that was nice of Olga to do for you. So, uhm, are you moving back permanently or just visiting?"

"Well, that, Arnold is entirely up to you. I'm staying at Phoebe's house until you decide."

"No pressure there," Arnold said sarcastically.

"She lied to you about Arnie. And they used to date!"

"Yeah, but nothing happened. And you can't really call it dating when they were in fourth grade."

"If nothing happened, then why did she feel the need to lie about it?" Helga challenged.

"Maybe she didn't want to start any drama between me and my cousin."

Helga rolled her eyes. "Just keep making excuses for that girl. I'm trying to help you decide who you want to be with."

"I already decided who I want to be with! And I told you I chose Lila. And why I chose her. She's always there for me. She's dedicated and helpful to me. She's sweet and so forgiving. In fact, today was the first time I've _ever _seen her bad side."

Helga smiled a Grinch-like smile. "That's because for the first time Lila feels like she's being threatened. She wouldn't act like that if she didn't think she was in danger of losing you."

Arnold was getting frustrated now. Time to be firm and perfectly clear about this. "I don't love you. I'll never love you. I'm in love with _Lila Sawyer. _I was flattered by what you wrote. Now that we're older maybe we can be better friends, but that is all—" Helga cut him off. She grabbed his face and kissed him. All of a sudden the front door of the house flew open. The door was still unlocked from when his Grandpa let Helga in. Arnold and Helga turned around to see who it was.

It was Lila. Her bright green eyes were wide with shock when she saw Helga kissing Arnold.

Helga wasn't trying to hide the fact that she stole a kiss from Arnold. She smiled smugly and said "Well, Lila, that's what you get for not knocking when you come into someone's house."

**TO BE CONTINUED… **

_**Part 7**_

Lila screamed at the top of her lungs. "What the fuck is going on here and why is this fugly skank back in town?!" She demanded.

"True love." Helga said simply. "Since my feelings are all out in the open now, I have nothing to lose."

Lila's eyes glowed. She ran towards Helga and started pulling on Helga's long blonde hair. She was attempting to knock her down. "Take that, you bleached blonde slut." Arnold stood there and couldn't believe his eyes. Lila was actually beating up Helga! Well, trying to, anyway. Helga started fighting back. Lila fell to the ground. She got back up and started swinging. Helga swung back and pulled on Lila's red hair. He didn't think the fight would last that long. Eventually, he had to step in.

"Okay, alright! Break it up!" He said, pulling them apart. "Lila, you sit on the couch next to me and Helga, you sit in the chair across the room. Damn, this is embarrassing."

"Maybe for Lila because she was losing. She didn't want to break a nail." Helga laughed.

"Well, Arnold told _me _to sit by him so _ha!" _Lila fired back.

"Will the both of you just shut up the fuck up for like, two seconds, please? Grow up!" Arnold snapped. He tried to calm things down in the room. "Now Lila, what are you doing here? It's only 3:30 and our date isn't until 7:00 tonight."

Lila rolled her eyes. "You know sometimes we see each other hours before our dates to coordinate our outfits. I took a picture of my outfit to show you. Does this go with what you're wearing or does it clash?" It was a picture of a denim mini skirt with a red and blue striped tank top.

"Yeah, Lila, I was wearing red and blue tonight, too," he said kissing her. "That was so sweet of you to do, like always. Being so detail oriented." He couldn't help but smile at her.

Helga made a face like she was pretending to throw up. "Now that's girlfriend material," she said obviously being sarcastic.

"Why the hell were you kissing that tramp?" Lila asked again.

"She kissed _me. _She just pulled me in out of nowhere and started kissing me." The both glanced in Helga's direction.

"He's telling the truth!" Helga admitted.

Lila put her arms around Arnold and gave him a huge hug. She looked over at Helga and stuck her tongue out at her.

"More importantly, why is _Helga _back anyway? You said she moved," Lila said as if Helga wasn't in the room.

Helga stood up and walked over to them. "I'm here because Arnold's in love with me. He just doesn't know it yet."

**TO BE CONTINUED… **

_**Part 8**_

Arnold couldn't believe his ears by what Helga was saying. Lila, however, was surprisingly cool as a cucumber. She smiled her classic sweet girl smile and quickly turned back into the old Lila.

"Helga, if that's how you feel, I have no control over that. I'd love for Arnold to stay with me but even if he chooses you, I just want him to be happy." She turned to Arnold. "See you tonight at 7:00, sweetie." She kissed him on the cheek and headed out the front door.

After Lila left, Helga forced a smile and tried to be happy for Arnold. "Looks like Little Miss Perfect's back. She's taking the high road and being the bigger person, as always." Now, Helga really felt guilty. "I'm sorry for kissing you without permission, Arnold. You love Lila. You always have and you always will. Maybe I'll go back home to New York and finish unpacking. I need to go back to Phoebe's house and get the rest of my stuff." Helga's tone was sad and Arnold could hear the tears in her voice.

"Helga, you don't have to rush back so soon." Arnold pointed out. "I told you that we can hang out _as friends. _And just so there's confusion, Gerald would hang out with us."

"Why would there be confusion? Are you worried you'd be tempted if you hang out with me alone?" Helga tested.

Arnold rolled his eyes. "Hell no. I'm not getting tempted right now, am I? It'll just be awkward now that I know your true feelings. With someone else hanging out with us, it's less tension."

"I'm still in love with you, but I can't _make _you be with me. I'd heading back to Phoebe's house for now." Helga walked towards the door.

"Are you alright, Helga?" Arnold had to ask.

Helga closed her eyes and sighed. "Not yet, but I will be." She turned around and walked out the front door.

**MEANWHILE AT LILA'S HOUSE…**

_Hmm…about two more hours until Arnold gets here. Time to make a very important phone call, _Lila thought to herself. Lila grabbed her cell phone and blocked her number as she dialed.

"It's time," she said calmly to the mystery voice on the other end.

"I know this voice, but why is your number blocked?" asks the mystery voice.

Lila smiled to herself. "So they can't trace anything back to me."

"Helga's staying with Phoebe while she's in town, but Phoebe will be out with us tonight. And her parents are going out to dinner and a casino with Helga's parents so _Helga _will be all alone at Phoebe's house tonight," Lila said certainly.

"How do you know all this?" asks the mystery voice on the other end of the phone.

Lila rolled her eyes. "I'm dating Phoebe's boyfriend's best friend. Duh."

"So, at about 8:00 when everyone's out of the house, we execute the plan," replies the mystery voice.

"That's two hours from now. Do you have everything ready?" Lila asked urgently.

"Yes, I do." The mystery voice responded.

**_TWO HOURS LATER…_**

Arnold, Lila, Gerald, and Phoebe all arrive at the Mexican restaurant for dinner. The waiter seats them.

"I have to go to the bathroom," Arnold says out of nowhere.

"Uhm, so do I." Gerald replied. That was their secret guy code in case one of them wanted to say something they couldn't say in front of the girls.

They get to the bathroom and make sure no one's in there.

"Gerald, Lila wasn't happy about that journal. _At all." _Arnold filled Gerald in on everything that happened between him, Helga, and Lila in the past two days.

Gerald shook his head. "The only good thing that came out of those two stories was that you are Lila are so in love that Helga's crazy ass couldn't come between that." Gerald smiled, "Oh and let's not forget you just got laid for the first time _ever." _

"Yeah, I lost my virginity after you and Phoebe did," Arnold laughed. He paused for a moment. "The thing is that I'm in love with Lila and she's in love with me. We all know that. But I hadn't planned on our first time happening like that."

"Why not?" Gerald asked. "She wasn't any good?"

"No, it's not that. Of course I wanted to have sex with Lila, but the main reason I did it was so that I wouldn't have to bring up the journal right away. It was just a good way to procrastinate."

Arnold and Gerald heard footsteps outside the bathroom door. Suddenly, Lila bursts in the bathroom.

"I was coming in here to tell you guys that the food's here, but now I find out that my boyfriend just had sex with me to stall for time."

Before, Arnold could even respond to that, Phoebe rushes into the bathroom. "Gerald, we have to go to the hospital right now!" Phoebe exclaimed frantically.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Gerald asked.

"Well, my parents were already gone to their own date night, but they had to come back because my dad forgot his wallet. And they found Helga lying unconscious in the living room. She tried to kill herself!"

**TO BE CONTINUED… **

_**Part 9**_

Helga lays in her hospital bed, unconscious. She's in a coma, so she can think things to herself, but she can't actually move or react to anything. _Someone tried to poison me, _she remembered to herself. It was after 10:00 PM and she flashed back to what happened a couple of hours ago at Phoebe's house.

**PHOEBE'S HOUSE EARLIER…**

Helga was laying on the couch watching wrestling and eating popcorn. Suddenly, there's a knock at the door. She lazily rolls off the couch and walks to the door. "Who is it?" she asks sleepily.

"It's Rhonda," Rhonda answered.

Helga rolls her eyes and answers the door. She's always found Rhonda to be a stuck up bitch. No wonder she and Lila are such good friends.

"What do want, Rhonda?" Helga demanded. Helga was annoyed and not in the mood for dealing with Princess Rhonda Lloyd right now—especially with the messed up days she's been having lately.

"I'm just passing out these cookies Nadine and I made. We're entering this baking contest and I have to make sure _everyone _likes them before we enter them." She glanced at Helga's thighs and said "you look like you like you eat a lot of cookies." Rhonda rolled her eyes and flipped her long, straight, dark hair over her shoulder. Helga really hated this girl.

"Ooh, a free cookie _and _the implication that I'm fat is on the house. I'm so lucky," Helga said sarcastically and rolled her eyes. She took one of the cookies from the basket.

"Hmm, good," Helga admitted. Rhonda may be a bitch, but she sure can bake. Next thing Helga knew, everything around her started looking all blurry.

"Would you like another cookie?" Rhonda asked teasingly.

"You bitch…" Helga mumbled and then she blacked out. She doesn't remember anything after that.

**BACK AT THE HOSPITAL…**

Helga was slowly waking up. A doctor was standing over her.

"You had quite a bump on the head, there," the doctor says as he writes notes on his clipboard.

"Yeah, well, I was poisoned," Helga said.

"You mean you poisoned yourself," the doctor tried to correct her.

"No, this skank bitch from my school did this to me with her demon cookies. She's best friends with this girl I can't stand. I can't stand her because she's all wrong for Arnold."

The doctor raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "Well, your friends Phoebe, Gerald, Arnold and Lila were here earlier. Along with your parents and Phoebe's parents. They left and decided to let you rest." He went on to say "I assume the Arnold that was here was the same Arnold you mentioned in your suicide note."

Helga sat up in her bed, wide awake now. "What suicide note?"

**TO BE CONTINUED… **

_**Part 10**_

"Phoebe's parents saw this note beside you when they found you unconscious. And there were no signs of these 'cookies' you're talking about," the doctor said. Dr. Smith must have really thought she was crazy. Great. First her parents and now this guy. She snatched the note from his hand. This wasn't even in her handwriting or her style or writing!

_'Bye everyone! If I can't have Arnold, life isn't worth living. I'm nothing but a fugly slut who goes around kissing other girls' boyfriends. I'm too ugly and mannish to get my own man. I'll never be as pretty, fun, or a great kisser like Lila. So, I'm killing myself. Arnold will never like me back. Game over. –Helga _

Helga was starting to get mad, now. "Anyone that really knows me knows I don't really talk like this. This note was written by two superficial and disturbed girls. It wasn't suicide, it was attempted murder!"

The doctor shook his head.

**MEANWHILE AT GERALD'S HOUSE…**

Gerald, Phoebe, Arnold and Lila arrive at Gerald's house after they leave the hospital. They sat in silence for about 20 minutes, still in disbelief that Helga had just tried to kill herself and put herself in a coma. She looked so helpless laying in her hospital bed like that.

"Helga didn't try to kill herself," Arnold said breaking the silence. Everyone stared at him.

Phoebe was still crying about her best friend. "I don't want to believe it, either, Arnold. And you saw that note. I think someone tried to kill her. Helga would _never _commit suicide and that note didn't sound anything _like _my best friend."

Lila put her arms around Phoebe. "I'm so sorry, sweetie. I can't even imagine going through this. You must have a million thoughts running through your head right now."

"Helga said Rhonda did this," Phoebe recalled.

"Phoebe, of course she said that. She just tried to kill herself and she wanted to make _herself _look less crazy. Rhonda was an easy scapegoat because they've always hated each other." Lila said gently.

"Of course you'd stick up for _your best friend." _Phoebe said coldly. "Well, damn it, I'm sticking up for mine. As God as my witness, I _will _find out what really happened to Helga. I _know _she didn't try to kill herself."

"I believe Helga, too." Arnold said. He looked in Lila's direction. "And if she didn't have anything to do with it, then she should have an alibi, right?"

"She already has a motive," Gerald was taking Phoebe's side. "Rhonda and Lila are best friends and maybe she tried to get rid of Helga for Lila, knowing she'd be less of a suspect than Lila. Plus, covering it up as a suicide was a nice touch. Of course, Nadine is their best friend, too, and _she _could have done it, but she's way too nice and smart to commit a murder." Gerald and Phoebe both glared at Lila.

Now, Arnold was getting upset. "My girlfriend is _not _a fucking killer and she wouldn't _have _someone else do it, either. And as my best friend, I can't believe you're even fucking implying that. I said that Helga didn't kill herself but my _girlfriend _and her best friend didn't do it, either."

"Thanks, Arnold. I'm glad someone really knows me for who I am." Lila said sweetly.

"Yeah, of course I'm always gonna have your back. Let's go and leave these people alone with their _lies." _Arnold said. He and Lila left and headed back to his house.

Gerald and Phoebe were alone in the living room together. "Gerald, I know Lila and Rhonda had something to do with it," Phoebe said sadly.

"So do I, baby. We just have to prove it," Gerald said, shaking his head.

**TO BE CONTINUED… **

_**Part 11**_

**THE NEXT DAY ON THE BUS…**

Phoebe smiles at Gerald. "Thank you for coming with me to see Nadine, baby."

"Anytime," Gerald smiles back. "If it's important to you, then it's important to me. Plus, this whole Helga suicide thing doesn't make a lot of sense."

Phoebe was glad to have such a sweet and understanding boyfriend, but she still felt guilty about something. She felt like she was coming between Gerald and Arnold's friendship. Like she was forcing Gerald to take sides. _Gerald and Arnold have been best friends since they met in pre-school, _she thought. _And here I am making Gerald prove to his best friend that his girlfriend's a liar. _

"Has Arnold returned any of your calls and texts since last night?" Phoebe asked hopefully.

"No, not yet," Gerald said sadly. Gerald rarely got sad and he was always so cool so it seemed weird seeing him so depressed about possibly losing his best friend. Which depressed Phoebe.

They finally arrive at Nadine's house. Gerald knocks on the door. Nadine answered the door.

"Phoebe, Gerald, what brings you all by?" Nadine was surprised to see them.

"We need to know what you and Rhonda put in those cookies that poisoned Helga." Phoebe got right to the point.

"I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you're talking about. First of all, I don't bake and second of all, Lila, Rhonda, and Harold said that she tried to kill herself and that the 'cookies' thing was just something to shift the blame onto someone else."

"Of course your best friends would tell you that if they tried to _kill _someone," Gerald rolled his eyes. Nadine was nice and super smart, but she could be dumb as hell when it came to choosing friends.

"Well, they're not the only ones that have said that. It was on the news that she tried to kill herself, the doctors have said that. Everyone has. No one knew she was quite _that _unhappy to the point of suicide, but facts are facts." Nadine was certain.

"Well, I have Helga's so called suicide note right here. You're a scientist. Is there any way that you could run some tests on it to see who actually wrote it?" Phoebe asked.

"There's no point. I _know _Helga wrote this—" she paused for a moment and actually looked at the note. "Wait a minute. This isn't Helga's handwriting. It looks like Rhonda's but I really hope it's not. Phoebe, you might be on to something. Both of you, follow me into my lab," she said leading them there.

They sat waiting for 10 minutes while Nadine fooled around with various chemicals and DNA testers.

"So, how much longer before we find out who wrote the note?" Gerald asked eager to not only find out the truth but to get Arnold back as a best friend.

"Just a few more minutes," Nadine replied. "I already happen to have DNA samples from Rhonda and Lila since they're over here all the time so it shouldn't be too hard. Plus, the police can look up their phone records and everything."

"That's great. I'm sorry we came over here accusing your best friends of this, but we just had to find out the truth," Phoebe apologized.

"No problem," Nadine said. Then, a timer went off. "The results are in. The DNA matches Rhonda W. Lloyd's. She _is _the one who wrote the note." It took a while for the test results to sink in for Nadine. "Could you excuse for a minute?" Nadine said to Phoebe and Gerald. Then she went outside and started crying. Phoebe and Gerald followed her outside to try to comfort her. Just then, Rhonda and Lila came walking up Nadine's driveway.

"What's wrong?" Lila asked sweetly.

**TO BE CONTINUED… **

_**Part 12**_

"Yeah, what's wrong, Nadine?" Rhonda asked as if she had no idea what was going on.

Nadine looked up for a minute, still crying. Now, she was angry. "As if you don't know?"

"What are you talking about, Nadine?" Now, it was Lila's turn to act clueless.

Nadine stood up and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'm not playing this game. You both tried to kill Helga and make it look like a suicide," she said angrily. "Not only that, but you said _I _helped make the cookies and I didn't even know what you guys were planning. Great looking out for your _best friend." _

Lila started to say something, but Rhonda spoke up. Rhonda was quicker on her feet than Lila. "I admit I wrote the note, but it was because Helga asked me to write it. She didn't want to be alone when she killed herself so she asked me to help."

"That's bullshit and you know it!" Phoebe declared. This was the loudest she had ever been in her whole life. "Even if she was suicidal, which she _wasn't, _why would she want _you_ to be the last person to see her alive and not her best friend?"

"Because she and Rhonda _aren't_ friends. She knew how hard it would be for _you _to see her die so she asked someone completely unbiased to help her do it." Lila said simply.

"That still doesn't make sense because Helga said this was an attempted _murder, _not an attempted suicide," Gerald wasn't buying their story.

"Of course she said that," Rhonda rolled her eyes. "She was embarrassed that she didn't kill herself. She knows that if her parents and everyone knew how disturbed she really was that everyone would act weird around her or send her to counseling or something."

"Well, did Lila have anything to do with this or just you, Rhonda?" Phoebe asked kind of curious to hear the answer.

Lila and Rhonda looked at each other for a moment as if searching for the right answer. "I knew Helga was really depressed after Arnold chose me over her. So after Helga left Arnold's house, she called Rhonda to ask her to help her kill herself. And, as a Christian, I'm 100% against suicide, but Rhonda told me that Helga really wanted to do it and she just couldn't stand living anymore," Lila said.

Suddenly Arnold walks up to Nadine's front porch. "I believe you, sweetie. You just did what you thought was right."

"Where did you come from?" Nadine demanded.

"I was just looking for Lila. Her dad said she was at your house," Arnold explained.

"Well, I still don't buy Rhonda and Lila's story. I think Lila asked Rhonda to kill Helga to get her out of the way so she couldn't bother Arnold anymore," Phoebe was sure of this.

"Come on man, you have to admit this is a weird coincidence. Just hours after Helga kisses you and tries to be your girlfriend, she ends up in a coma. How can you not even _suspect _that your girlfriend had anything to do with this? She can't stand Helga, especially after what was in her journal," Gerald pointed out.

"Well, I'm standing behind my girlfriend completely. If Lila says this was an assisted suicide, then I believe her. Sure, she can't stand her, but she's not a murderer," Arnold was getting angrier and angrier. "And if you can't shut the hell up talking shit about my girlfriend, then fuck you, Gerald."

Tears started to well up in Gerald's eyes as Arnold and Lila walked away.

**TO BE CONTINUED… **

_**Part 13**_

**ARNOLD'S ROOM**

Arnold and Lila are in Arnold's room making out.

Lila pulls back slightly. "Thanks again for sticking up for me, baby," Lila says, grateful to Arnold.

Arnold kisses Lila passionately again. "Baby it really turns me on how honest you were today," Arnold purred. "Most people would have just let their friends take the heat for something like that and claim they don't know anything about it."

Lila smiled. "Yeah, well, like I said I knew Rhonda was helping Helga commit suicide, but I was against it."

"You did what you could, honey, there's no helping people like Helga Pataki," Arnold said, shaking his head.

Lila kissed Arnold on the forehead. Arnold pulls her in for a longer kiss. "Let's make love again," Arnold whispers.

"As long as you're not using it as a way to distract me from something again," Lila rolls her eyes.

"Lila, I'm _so sorry _about that, but you're the one that I want to be with. The only reason why that journal was so hard to talk about was because we already have such a great thing going on here and we don't need Helga or anyone else messing it up," Arnold explained.

Lila smiled her brightest smile then went into kiss Arnold. She then took off her skirt and top. Then, Arnold began to get undressed. They made love for about four hours that evening. They did about 30 different positions until they finally got too tired and sweaty to go on.

Lila lay snuggled in Arnold's arms. "That was so amazing, sweetie," Lila said happily. Then, she dozed off to sleep. Arnold had worn her out.

Arnold lay in the bed for a moment and almost dozed off to sleep, too, but his thoughts were keeping him awake. Something just didn't make sense to him. He was so certain that Helga hadn't tried to kill herself, but he believed the attempted suicide story the moment that his girlfriend and her best friend told her it was true. Even if she _was _trying to kill herself, she wouldn't have asked Rhonda to help, her? Or would she? Lila wouldn't lie, would she? He looked over at his petite, adorable red-haired girlfriend. There's no way someone this sweet and innocent would even think about committing a murder. Right? But then, again, he never thought Lila would become jealous and try to fight Helga, either. Arnold knew that his girlfriend was telling the truth, but he had to find out for himself so he could prove it to everyone else.

_Her cell phone! _He thought to himself. _I'll just read Lila's text messages from her friends and it will most likely be messages between her and Rhonda saying that she was against suicide and didn't want any part of it. _

Arnold got out of bed, careful not to wake Lila. He hated to be a snooping boyfriend, but this was an emergency. He knew she was telling the truth, but he had to prove it to everyone else. He located her green rhinestoned phone in the chair in his room by the door. He opened it up. He looked over his shoulder to make sure she was still asleep. He looked back at the text messages and scrolled over to Rhonda's messages.

_From Rhonda: Girl, we got away with it. Your man thinks Helga wanted to die._

_To Rhonda: I know, right? We might not have successfully killed Helga like we planned but even if she doe_s survive, _when she gets out of the hospital everyone will think she's crazy and Arnold won't want anything to do with her. _

_From Rhonda: We really are the baddest girls in our school._

_To Rhonda: Yeah, we get away with everything. We humiliated Helga and I get to keep my man._

Arnold's mouth dropped when he read those messages. He can't believe he was trying to use her phone to prove her _innocence! _His girlfriend was a crazy, selfish, sociopathic, stuck up bitch, just like Helga said. And the sad thing is it took Helga lying in a hospital bed for him to see it.

**TO BE CONTINUED… **

_**Part 14**_

Arnold continued to stare at Lila's text messages in disbelief. He had to do something about this. Of course, he could run to the police or run to Helga with the truth, but that most likely wouldn't be enough evidence. What he needed was a confession. And he'd have to get it from Lila. He knew just what to do. Suddenly, Lila stepped out into the hallway.

"Sweetie, I'm going to go take a shower. I'll miss you tons while I'm in there," Lila declared.

"Yeah, me, too," Arnold forced a smile and kissed her on the cheek. If Arnold was going to get Lila to admit she tried to kill Helga, he'd have to play it cool. And unfortunately, he'd have to do it alone because he's one of the few people she'd confess to, not to mention Gerald is still mad at him. He couldn't blame him. He'd have to apologize, but not until he could get back at Lila. Arnold went back to his room and surfed the internet for a while. About 20 minutes later, Lila walks back in.

She puts her arms around him and kisses him. "Did you miss me, Sweetie?" Lila asks. That sweet country voice that he used to find so cute was really starting to get on his nerves.

"Of course, I missed you," Arnold said convincingly. He had dabbled in acting before, so maybe he could trick Lila into a confession. Arnold sighed and discreetly turned on a tape recorder he put in his pocket while Lila was in the bathroom. "I was just on Facebook reading all these 'get well soon' messages to Helga. I'm not sure about you, but I don't care if she ever gets well after what she put us through."

Lila didn't have a response for that at first. "Well, uhm, I can see how you'd feel that way."

"If you and Rhonda did try to kill Helga, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Especially after all the horrible things she's done to both of us," Arnold said.

"Yeah, maybe that's why she wanted to commit suicide. She knew was a horrible person. She must have known," Lila rolled her eyes.

"So you think she's a horrible person?" Arnold challenged.

"No, I-I-I was agreeing when you said it!" Lila stuttered.

"Actually, I said she did horrible things, but I didn't say she was a horrible person," Arnold smiled slightly. "Besides that, don't worry about it baby. Harold already told me everything. Your secret's safe with me."

Lila was so close to cracking. "To-told you everything about what?" Lila tried to remain cool.

"Everything about your plan and how it was _his _idea to poison the cookies and Rhonda's idea to write the fake suicide note," Arnold said without blinking. He's a better liar than he thought he was.

This set Lila off. "That fat bastard! I can't believe he told _you, _of all people exactly what was in the plan. I didn't want to include him, but he's Rhonda's boyfriend and I thought he could keep a damn secret! I can't fucking believe he blabbed! Baby I'm so sorry you had to find out this way."

Arnold let out a chuckle. "Lila, _sweetie, _Harold didn't tell me anything. _You _just did. I know everything I need to know to have you convicted."

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

_**Part 15**_

All Lila could do is stand there in disbelief. She couldn't believe she just confessed to the attempted murder of Helga Pataki. This wasn't looking good for Rhonda and Harold, either. She was bringing her friends down with her because of her jealousy. Lila genuinely felt horrible: not only had she tried to kill someone and asked her friends to help her do it, but she ruined her own relationship with Arnold. What if he broke up with her?

Lila was at a loss for words, so she just said what was in her heart. "I'm so sorry for all this, Arnold."

Arnold shook his head. "You're not really sorry. No, you couldn't be. Sorry about what? That an innocent girl _didn't _die? Sorry about the fact that I caught you? I mean, how long were you going to keep this charade up, Lila? You heard me cuss out my best friend since _pre-school _over you? Were you really just going to let me and Gerald beef forever? Admit it, you thought Helga would be out of the way and you and your stuck up little friends wouldn't get caught. And the way you and Rhonda lied on Nadine like that. She's supposed to your girl," Lila started to say something after Arnold spoke, but then he said "You and Rhonda are nothing but trifling ass bitches and Harold's just dumb as hell for going along with it."

Lila stared down at her feet and started to cry. Arnold had never been so cold to her before. Suddenly, Lila got an idea. "Arnold, you have the evidence to turn us in, but you don't have to. In fact, I'd recommend you not to. Sure Rhonda and I attempted a murder, but the police would most likely think _you're_ a suspect."

"What the hell are you talking about? I had nothing to do with this!" Arnold knew he was innocent.

"Well, everyone saw you go off on Gerald. Plus, you did totally reject Helga just hours before she went to the hospital. Face it, you have just as much of a motive as I do. And admit it, maybe you didn't want Helga dead, but wasn't there just a tiny part of you that was glad she was out of our hair?"

Arnold could actually see Lila's logic. But he hadn't tried to kill anyone. What should he do?

"Love can make you do some crazy things, baby. But you didn't have to try to kill Helga," Arnold smiled at her. "I had already chosen you over her." He walked to Lila and hugged her.

"Baby, my intentions were good and I really didn't mean it to go that far. I just wanted us to be happy together," Lila admitted.

"It's okay, honey. This'll be our little secret. And yes, you hurt Helga, but she didn't get enough poison to die. She'll be fine. We'll just take this to our graves," Arnold was very forgiving.

"To our graves," Lila repeated.

**TO BE CONTINUED… **

_**Part 16**_

Arnold eventually rode the bus to take Lila back home that night. He couldn't sleep when he got back home. He just promised to keep a very ugly secret about the love of his life. But he had to tell someone this. No way that he could actually take this to his grave. He was so conflicted! Should he do the right thing and turn in Lila, Rhonda, and Harold? Or should he actually be flattered? _Lila did try to commit murder to save our relationship, _he thought to himself. _She's never even been the jealous type before now, but when I think about it, a girl like that that goes so far to keep her man isn't going to leave him._ Arnold's against murder obviously, but Lila's heart was in the right place. _Her heart. _Then again, Lila claims to be such a die-hard Christian. She acts so sweet and innocent, but what she did is so hypocritical of her. Even if he could trust Lila to be a good girlfriend, what if she snaps again. She seemed genuinely sorry and she never did anything like this before, but who can really tell if she's never going to do anything like this again? Hell, he never thought she'd do it in the first place! Arnold was tired of pacing back and forth thinking. He needed his best friend right now. First, he had to apologize to him.

**GERALD'S HOUSE**

Arnold took a bus to get to Gerald's house. He knew this was going to be an awkward apology so when Gerald answered the door Arnold blurted out the first words that came to his mind. "I'm in love with a psychotic bitch."

Gerald simply raised his eyebrows. "Good to see you again, too, Buddy."

Arnold's eyes suddenly welled up. "Gerald, I'm so sorry. You and Phoebe were completely right about Lila!" Arnold hugged Gerald.

Gerald hugged back. "It's okay, man. Look, I get it. You're in love. Some deep dark secrets are just too hard to accept so we act like they don't exist. The fact that you came to me first let me know that you're genuinely, sorry, man."

"Thank you so much for forgiving me," Arnold smiled. He and Gerald did their thumb handshake. Things were good between them again. No one and nothing can tear up a friendship this strong.

"How'd you find out she was lying?" Gerald was curious.

Arnold told him all about the text messages between Rhonda and Lila, as well as the tape recorder confession. Arnold even mentioned how Lila said that _he _could just as easily be a suspect.

Gerald rubbed his chin. "Sounds like you have enough to have Lila and them put away forever, or at least sent to juvie."

Arnold rolled his eyes. "Don't you think I know that? There's a reason I haven't pulled the trigger."

Gerald nodded his head. "You're still in love with her."

Arnold shook his head and looked at the living room floor. "I know it sounds crazy, but yes, I am. I wish she hadn't done this because everything was going so great before she tried to kill Helga."

Gerald couldn't help but smile. "You mean before you found Helga's journal. There's a reason why Lila was jealous of Helga. Think about it: Lila's confident, not insecure. A lot of girls have shown interest in you before, but she got maddest when she knew Helga still had feelings for you and maybe she was worried you still had feelings for her, too."

Arnold thought for a moment. "You might be right. Helga did confess her love to me when we were trying to save the neighborhood back in fourth grade and she kissed me. I told Lila about that. She knows all about the ups and downs that me and Helga have had together over the years. There was even that one time that Helga tried to be more like Lila to impress me. Lila could see then that there was some tension between us. No wonder she snapped. I haven't been fair to her with this whole Helga thing, Gerald. This notebook was just the straw that broke the camel's back."

"It's not your fault, man. You and Helga just have a very…interesting past together," Gerald said trying to comfort his best friend.

"I think what made Lila really mad was the fact that even though I picked her in the end, I had to even _think _about it. She wanted me to choose her automatically. What girl wouldn't?" Arnold pointed out.

"Do you think you might have feelings for Helga after all? You just admitted that you had to think about it," Gerald asked.

Arnold put his head in his hands. "Honestly, Gerald, I don't even know anymore. I love Lila and she's _amazing. _But she's having me keep the biggest secret I've ever had to keep in my whole life. And Helga may have put me through some hell over the years, but at least she's always been honest with me for the most part. The only thing she ever covered up was her feelings for me."

"So the big question is: do you want to continue to keep Lila's secret and stay with her _forever_ or report her and her friends to the police and give things a try with Helga?"

**TO BE CONTINUED… **

_**Part 17**_

Gerald asked Arnold, again, "so who are you going to pick, man?"

"Well, Gerald, one girl was the sweetest and most innocent and caring girl I had ever known—until she got crazy jealous and showed me a side of her I never want to see again," Arnold started.

"And she lied to you," Gerald added.

"Yes, but this other girl picked on me my whole life and called me Football Head and made me miserable, but in some weird way she's always there for me. And I can tell how sensitive and caring she really is because whenever I see how down she is I can't help but comfort her," Arnold continued.

Gerald rolled his eyes. "You're giving me whiplash."

Arnold flashed back through how long he and Lila had known each other: the cheese festival, when he first met her in class, when he used Timberly to get Lila to like him, when she saw 'Arnold Loves Lila' on the wall and many other memories.

Then he thought about Helga: saving the neighborhood together, being partners in the bio square, that Valentine's Day where she was his date (he knew all along that was Helga in disguise), her spilling paint on him, playing sports together, the egg project, plus she had always comforted him no matter what. Even when they were mean to each other, they still made each other feel better. She even made him feel better when the girl she despised rejected him. Helga was more mature than he realized.

And Lila wasn't the sweetheart he thought she was. "Gerald, can you come with me to the police station?" Arnold asked.

Gerald looked shocked. "Are you sure, man? What about Lila?"

Arnold smiled his biggest grin. "Who cares about Lila? She tried to kill the love of my life."

"You're sure you want to do this? I mean, Phoebe and I knew all along that Lila and her clique had something to do with Helga being poisoned, but I was keeping quiet because of how you feel about Lila," Gerald pointed out. "That and we had no proof."

"_Felt", _Arnold corrected him. "My relationship with Lila was so superficial. I realized that I don't want a fairytale romance. I want something real and down to earth. I want _Helga."_

"Yeah, I can feel you on that. But how do you know Helga's going to be nice to you all the time, now? Even though she's in love with you, she shows it in weird ways," Gerald observed.

"Yes, but keep in mind that I know her secret now and she's bolder about her feelings. Her family moved all the way to New York and she said she'd stay here to be with me. She came all this way to see me. I'm not sure if Lila would have my back like that."

"Most likely not," Gerald agreed. "Plus, she wanted you to go down with her for a scheme you had nothing to do with. She scared you into not telling."

Arnold nodded his head. "So let's go to the police station with this evidence."

Gerald grinned. "Right behind you, buddy."

**TO BE CONTINUED… **

_**Part 18**_

Arnold and Gerald arrive at the police station twenty minutes later.

"Are you sure you have everything you need to convict them, man?" Gerald asked.

"Yeah, I have Lila's taped confession and just in case I took pictures of the messages on her phone between her and Rhonda," Arnold replied.

Gerald shook his head. "I still can't believe they threw Nadine under the bus like that and she had no idea what they were planning. And she's supposed to be their best friend."

"Yeah, they're fucking psycho," Arnold rolled his eyes.

They walk up to the police door and when they get in, they ask to speak to the sheriff. The sheriff comes out. "What can I do for you boys?" the sheriff asked.

"Uhm, I've never done this before, but we'd like to report an attempted murder," Arnold said nervously.

The sheriff frowned. His nametag said Sheriff Hall. "That's a very serious accusation, uhm—"

"Arnold," Arnold stated. "Arnold Shortman."

"Well, Arnold, do you have any evidence backing this up? Or is this just another childhood prank?" Hall asked him as if he were 12.

"Sir, we're 16, almost 17," Gerald was really starting to get annoyed with this guy. "And if we didn't have proof, why would we be here?"

"You'd be surprised, Mr.—"

"Gerald. Gerald Johansson."

"Right, Gerald. So, what is this proof you have and what exactly is going on?" Hall seemed interested all of a sudden.

"Well, there's this girl that was in my class until she moved and she came back into town when she found out that I found out that she was in love with me. Well, my girlfriend and her friend, along with her friend's boyfriend tried to kill her so she'd be out of the way," Arnold explained.

Hall nodded his head as if he understood completely. "Ah, the old jealous girlfriend routine. Is this the first time, your girlfriend has ever done anything like this?"

"Yes, sir. And here's some messages I took pictures of on her phone as well as this taped confession," Arnold gave his proof to the sheriff.

"And what is everyone's name who's involved?" Hall asked.

Gerald spoke up. "Lila Sawyer's the one whose idea it was. The other two people involved were Rhonda Lloyd and her boyfriend Harold Berman."

Hall began writing to fill out his report. "What are the ages?"

"Lila and Rhonda are 16, the victim, Helga Pataki is 16, and Harold's 20," Gerald answered.

Hall looked up from his notepad. "Harold's 20? Why would he be helping two 16 year old girls kill someone and better yet, why is he still in high school?"

Arnold smirked. "He's been held back a few years. Since he's over 18 and the other girls are minors, can Harold be tried as an adult?"

"Depending on the situation, they might _all_ be going to jail. Where is the victim, right now?" Hall asked for his records.

"Helga's in the hospital in a coma. Rhonda came to her friend Phoebe's house, where Helga was staying and gave her some cookies that had poison in them. They even wrote this fake suicide note to make it look like Helga tried to kill herself," Arnold told him.

"Well, we'll have to bring them in for questioning before we convict anyone, but based on the evidence and information you've provided, this is a pretty much a solved case," Hall said.

A little over an hour later, Lila, Rhonda and Harold are being brought into the police station by cops. Lila has tears in her eyes and kept saying how much she loved Arnold. Rhonda was crying about how she had already been accepted into all these fashion colleges after high school and she couldn't go to jail. Harold was panicking, too, but he was trying to comfort Rhonda.

**ABOUT A WEEK LATER AFTER THE TRIAL**

Lila, Rhonda, and Harold were found guilty of attempted murder and were sent to jail in upstate Oregon. Lila and Rhonda went to jail together and Harold was sent to a men's prison not far from there. Lila and Rhonda received a 10 year sentence because they're minors and Harold received a 30 year sentence because he was over 18.

"Well, Arnold, we did it. We proved that Lila and her friends were guilty and they're going away for a long, long time," Gerald smiled.

Arnold grinned back. "Yeah, and I would feel guilty about them missing college next year and their friends and families were disappointed, but they brought this all on themselves."

"Yeah, there's no telling if they would have done something like this again if you had let Little Miss Perfect get away with it," Gerald replied.

"I can't believe I almost did. Love is blind, man," Arnold admitted.

"Speaking of love, isn't there someone at the hospital you'd like to go see?" Gerald winked and nudged him.

"Way ahead of you, buddy," Arnold smiled his biggest smile. "Helga gets out of the hospital tomorrow. At the welcome home party Phoebe's throwing at her house, I'm going to tell Helga my feelings for her. Nothing and no one can stand in our way, anymore."

**TO BE CONTINUED… **

_**Part 19**_

The next day Arnold awakens in his bed at about 8 AM. Today was the big day. Helga's getting out of the hospital and at Phoebe's house, Helga and Phoebe's families are throwing Helga a welcome home party. It didn't start until 8 PM, but Arnold had a lot of work to do. He had to tell Helga that he was in love with her. Plus, he had to be fresh tonight. Arnold hopped out of bed and walked over to his closet.

_Hmm…first, I'll pick out the shirt and shoes, then I'll find the pants that go with that, _Arnold thought to himself. He looked around his closet and out of all his clothes, he couldn't find anything perfect until…he found a pink polo shirt. Perfect! Helga's favorite color. Then, he found some matching pink vans. Plus, he found some blue dark yet faded jeans with the tags still on them. This outfit was still missing something. Ah, the gold watch his grandpa gave him. Now, his outfit was _really perfect. _He had to be dressed to impress tonight. Now, he had to go take a shower. Then, he brushed his teeth and washed his face. Then, he put on his deodorant and Calvin Klein cologne. After he was dressed and smooth, he had to do his hair. It was still wet from being washed. He blow dried it some, then gelled it back. Arnold stepped back and looked in the mirror. He was never one to be arrogant, but he had to admit he looked good. He went to eat breakfast, so he wouldn't be hungry later. He was just sitting down to his bacon and eggs when one of the boarders, Ernie walks in.

"Arnold, you sure are dressed up for breakfast," Ernie teased.

Arnold smiled. "I have to impress the girl of my dreams tonight!"

Ernie smiled. "Let me guess: that tall, kind of curvy blonde chick who's getting out of the hospital today, right?"

"How'd you know?" Arnold asked.

"Just a feeling," Ernie replied. "Your crazy little ex-girlfriend went to jail for trying to get rid of her. She wouldn't have been threatened for no reason."

"You're right. I guess in a weird way, I've always been in love with Helga. But the thing is, when I was still with Lila, I rejected Helga and treated her really coldly. How do I undo all that?" Arnold needed advice. "I mean, how did Lola, that super tall and plus-sized model fall in love with you? And you're still together, right?"

"Yeah, we're still together. And if you remember _you _gave me advice on how to get her. You said to just be myself and I'm a great guy, despite my height and nose, and if she didn't see that, then it was her loss. And now we couldn't be happier together. She truly loves me for me and vice versa. Somehow," Ernie chuckled.

Arnold grinned. "Thanks, Ernie. I think I know exactly what to say to her."

"Anytime, kid," Ernie said.

**7:30 PM OUTSIDE OF GERALD'S HOUSE**

Arnold rented a limo for the night. He had also stopped at Ms. Vitello's flower shop and picked out a dozen roses. Helga deserved the best.

Gerald walks outside and gets in the limo. "Whoa, man, you went all out for tonight. How much did all this cost?"

"Well, the limo and the roses didn't cost that much, but this custom made necklace was $400," Arnold pulled the Tiffany's box out of his pocket and showed Gerald the platinum silver necklace that spelled out Helga's name in diamonds.

Gerald was truly impressed. "You go get her, man."

They finally arrive at Phoebe's house. Everyone is already there. Arnold is ready to make his move.

He and Gerald walk up to Phoebe. "Have you seen Helga?" Arnold asked eagerly.

Phoebe smiled sweetly. "She's right over there by the punch bowl."

"Thanks, Phoebe," Arnold said. Gerald gave him a thumbs up sign.

Arnold walked over to Helga. She looked amazing for someone that was just in a coma. Her long blonde hair was down and curly. She was wearing a skintight pink sleeveless dress with matching pink pumps. Arnold couldn't believe this was the same bully with the unibrow and the constant frown. Helga was actually…approachable now.

Arnold was so nervous. "Hi-hi Hel-Helga. Could I talk to you outside for a minute?" Arnold heard himself say.

**TO BE CONTINUED… **

_**Part 20**_

Helga slightly turned red when Arnold asked her to come with him outside. But she only said the first thought that came to her mind.

"Sure, Arnold," She yelled to Phoebe. "Hey, Phoebe, I'm leaving with Arnold for a while! Tell my parents and Olga I left."

"Telling them!" Phoebe yelled back. She was now dancing with Gerald.

Arnold and Helga get outside and Helga's jaw drops. "Is-is that limo for u-us?" Helga stuttered.

All Arnold could do is smile. "Of course." The chauffeur gets out of the limo and opens the door for them.

"Where to, sir?" He asks.

"Uhm, just take us to the park or someplace pretty and circle around," Arnold replied.

"Of course, sir," says the chauffeur as they get into the backseat.

"These are for you," Arnold says as he gives her the roses.

"Thank you, Arnold! You didn't have to do all this," Helga was actually acting shy.

"I know I didn't _have to, _Helga. But I wanted to," Arnold replied.

"Wow, I should get into a coma more often," Helga joked. "But seriously, Arnold, thank you for believing me and sending Lila, Rhonda, and Harold to jail. I know that was hard for you to turn your girlfriend in."

_"Ex-girlfriend," _Arnold corrected her and slid a little closer to her. He was doing his best to make eye contact without getting nervous. "Helga, I keep thinking about all the times we've already shared, good and bad. In a strange way, we've always been there to comfort each other. I'm in love with you, not Lila. I think what you and I have can go deeper than the superficial high school romance between Lila and I."

Helga looked genuinely surprised. "But you rejected me and said you would never love me! How did you change your mind?"

"I was blinded by Lila. I had always liked her and then one day she finally liked me back and I was thrilled. But when I found your notebook, I found that there was more to you than meets the eye. You're deep and sensitive, not to mention special and romantic. I'd be crazy not to be in love with you. I can understand if you don't feel the same way after all you've been through lately—"

Helga cut him off. "Just shut up and kiss me, football head."

Arnold grinned. "Yes, ma'am!" They make out for about 20 minutes and then Arnold remembers the necklace.

"One last thing, Helga." He pulls the box out of his pocket and Helga opens it.

"Arnold, it's beautiful!" She was near tears and she throws her arms around him.

"Will you be my girlfriend, Helga G. Pataki?" Arnold had to ask.

Helga didn't even hesitate. "Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!"

Arnold kisses Helga passionately. Next thing they know they're back at Phoebe's house. They walk in together hand in hand.

"I have an announcement to make, everyone!" Helga says loudly. "Arnold decided to be with me, so when my parents and Olga go back to New York, I'm going to stay here so I can be with my Arnold."

"Are you sure you want to do this, Helga?" Miriam asked.

"I've never been so sure of anything before, Mom," Helga smiled.

**THE NEXT DAY AT PHOEBE'S HOUSE…**

Arnold arrives to pick Helga up for their first official date. They were having a picnic in Phoebe's backyard when everyone was gone.

"Oh, Arnold, you brought all my favorites! Cheeseburgers, milkshakes, fries. You remembered," Helga gushed.

"Only the best for my girl," Arnold was so sweet. They get about halfway through their romantic lunch when Arnold asks a weird request. With a smile Arnold says "say it one last time for me, Helga."

Helga smiled and rolled her eyes. "Alright. Move it, football head. I'm walking here."

Then they burst out laughing. Helga and Arnold start kissing lovingly.

**THE END! **


End file.
